Beer Industry

Attacked by health groups and the U.S. surgeon general, the beer industry and its allies are evoking history to defend their brew.In a news release, an industry-backed group called the Beer Drinkers of America asserts that ''beer helped shape civilization as we know it.''''Ancient Egyptian wedding engagements - beer was there. Religious rites in 6000 B.C. Babylonia - beer was there. The Mayflower's voyage to the New World - beer was there. Name the occasion, beer was probably there,'' says Bill Schreiber, president of the group.

TALLAHASSEE - Beer giants and distributors, a cadre of small brewers and lawmakers are waging a battle over control of a burgeoning craft-brew industry now largely operating under Prohibition-era rules. Ultimately, the Legislature's frothy fight could result in a greater variety of brews available at local microbreweries and more access to craft beers in general. It's largely a struggle over Florida's complex regulation of beer sales. The rules are meant to control monopolies, protect the marketplace and prevent problems dating back to the 1920s when the nation was drowning in cheap booze.

By Reviewed by Jacqueline Fitzgerald Chicago Tribune, December 7, 1997

Beer Blast: The Inside Story of the Brewing Industry's Bizarre Battles For Your Money, by Philip Van Munching (Times Business/Random House, 274 pages, $24). Getting people to buy beer shouldn't be a hard job. But, according to Beer Blast author Philip Van Munching, many beer companies' grasp on marketing is as slippery as a hand on a frosty amber mug.Van Munching should know. The third-generation beer executivespent a decade at Van Munching & Co. Inc., the longtime U.S. importer of Heineken, before writing his insider's account of a business that, he says, lost track of a few simple rules.

The NCAA says it has found proof the situation isn't as dire as many people think when they picture drunken college students tumbling out of the nearest football stadium on Saturday afternoons. The NCAA's recently released "2004 Safe Celebration Study" reported that 93 percent of the 986 college students surveyed say their behavior is responsible and safe during tailgating, 93 percent say they don't throw beverages and 92 percent say they don't fight with other fans. One of the collaborators on the study, though, has garnered even more attention than those stats.

GOING FLAT. A big lottery jackpot is not much of a prize to the beer industry. Jeffrey C. Schenck, an Orlando beer distributor, said last week's fever for the $50 million-plus Lotto jackpot probably wasn't good for beer sales. That has been the pattern in the past, he said. Some customers apparently tap their beer budgets to buy lottery tickets.

Beer lovers would pay 2 cents more a pint to help fight drug and alcohol abuse if a controversial tax approved Thursday by a House committee becomes law.The panel okayed the tax after a wild meeting that featured accusations of threats by a beer industry lobbyist to put financial pressure on the measure's supporters, two close votes that barely kept the tax alive, and a walkout by opponents trying to prevent a final vote.Beer industry representatives, who said the tax would undoubtedly be passed on to consumers, vowed to to kill the measure.

When baseball fans reach into the fridge for a brew during the playoffs, more of them than ever will be reaching for a non-alcoholic beer.Whether it's because of the fierce campaign against alcohol or maybe because the buzz isn't fun anymore, folks in record numbers are turning to non-alcoholic beer, known as NAs. It's been a hit for the beer industry - the same beer industry that has seen the sales curve of premium beers go flat.For Lake and Sumter county residents who like the taste of beer, that means having an acceptable alternative, one they didn't have three or four years ago.Now, they have several alternatives.

When it comes to beer, drinkers have an incredible number of choices. But investors will find far fewer ways to sample the beer market. And right now, none of them seems very attractive.That's notwithstanding the excitement in the beer industry last week after Hicks, Muse & Co. agreed to pay $390 million for the G. Heileman Co., the nation's fifth-largest brewer. Industry executives and analysts expect more deals as part of a continuing consolidation. But people interested in beer are probably better off putting a foot on the bar rail than looking for a stock play.

THE BEER industry said Tuesday that beer producers may drop sponsorship of major sports if Congress requires new health warnings to accompany any advertising for alcoholic beverages. Bracing for a House hearing today, the Beer Institute launched an offensive against legislation that would require an expansion of warnings, now required on beer cans and bottles, to also be carried on advertising. Bud Selig, owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, said in a written statement that Miller Brewing Co.'s television advertising is worth millions of dollars to the team and would be difficult to replace.

Thank you for Wednesday's op-ed article "The alcohol lobby is intoxicated with spin control." Every parent, as well as those who work with young people, ought to be alarmed and outraged at what the alcohol industry is trying to do to squelch the National Academy of Sciences study on underage drinking. As the article pointed out, alcohol is the most dangerous drug to young people. Yet, even that fact is not enough to convince some 138 members of Congress to not try to influence the study due to their pockets being lined by the beer wholesalers.

Thank you for Wednesday's op-ed article "The alcohol lobby is intoxicated with spin control." Every parent, as well as those who work with young people, ought to be alarmed and outraged at what the alcohol industry is trying to do to squelch the National Academy of Sciences study on underage drinking. As the article pointed out, alcohol is the most dangerous drug to young people. Yet, even that fact is not enough to convince some 138 members of Congress to not try to influence the study due to their pockets being lined by the beer wholesalers.

You're Generation X, but you're certainly no slacker. In your mid-20s, you've outgrown the college kegger scene. Brought up on Starbucks, sophisticated enough to order Kona or Blue Mountain, not just sugar, cream or black. Your beer is micro-brewed, your iced tea brand-named, your jeans by Code Blue.Your next lifestyle step?Wine.At least that's what wine indus- try pros and amateur wine lovers hope.They want to spare you a life of booze and Budweiser, to turn you on to a lifestyle of responsible consumption of good wine under the slogan ``Drink less, drink better.

By Reviewed by Jacqueline Fitzgerald Chicago Tribune, December 7, 1997

Beer Blast: The Inside Story of the Brewing Industry's Bizarre Battles For Your Money, by Philip Van Munching (Times Business/Random House, 274 pages, $24). Getting people to buy beer shouldn't be a hard job. But, according to Beer Blast author Philip Van Munching, many beer companies' grasp on marketing is as slippery as a hand on a frosty amber mug.Van Munching should know. The third-generation beer executivespent a decade at Van Munching & Co. Inc., the longtime U.S. importer of Heineken, before writing his insider's account of a business that, he says, lost track of a few simple rules.

How is it that beer has such a feel-good image for many Americans, while other ''sin products'' such as tobacco and liquor are more widely condemned? One explanation begins with the dromedary and the dog.In 1987, RJR Nabisco Inc. rolled out Joe Camel in billboard and magazine ads nationwide. The character became a lightning rod for anti-tobacco critics, who complained frequently and loudly that the company used him to target kids. But RJR stubbornly clung to Joe Camel for a decade, deciding to phase him out last month.

Rich Corbin finds afternoon the perfect time to party.The 21-year-old Rollins College student has a penchant for bar-hopping but shallow pockets to fund his frolicking.So a few times a week, he and his friends cruise Central Florida searching for the best beer bang for their buck at various happy hours.''It's after work, and people feel like trash and don't have a lot of money,'' Corbin said as he downed a frosty pint of Icehouse beer at Scruffy Murphy's Irish Pub in Orlando. ''They go home happy.

When it comes to beer, drinkers have an incredible number of choices. But investors will find far fewer ways to sample the beer market. And right now, none of them seems very attractive.That's notwithstanding the excitement in the beer industry last week after Hicks, Muse & Co. agreed to pay $390 million for the G. Heileman Co., the nation's fifth-largest brewer. Industry executives and analysts expect more deals as part of a continuing consolidation. But people interested in beer are probably better off putting a foot on the bar rail than looking for a stock play.

Anheuser-Busch Cos., the giant braumeister and owner of the Sea World marine parks, is expected to report improved first-quarter earnings today at its annual shareholders meeting in Orlando.The event, to begin at 10 a.m. at the Stouffer Orlando Resort, is the company's first such gathering in Orlando, but anyone expecting fireworks is likely to leave disappointed.''I think it will be fairly routine,'' said Jay Nelson, who follows Anheuser-Busch for the brokerage Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York.

The NCAA says it has found proof the situation isn't as dire as many people think when they picture drunken college students tumbling out of the nearest football stadium on Saturday afternoons. The NCAA's recently released "2004 Safe Celebration Study" reported that 93 percent of the 986 college students surveyed say their behavior is responsible and safe during tailgating, 93 percent say they don't throw beverages and 92 percent say they don't fight with other fans. One of the collaborators on the study, though, has garnered even more attention than those stats.

When baseball fans reach into the fridge for a brew during the playoffs, more of them than ever will be reaching for a non-alcoholic beer.Whether it's because of the fierce campaign against alcohol or maybe because the buzz isn't fun anymore, folks in record numbers are turning to non-alcoholic beer, known as NAs. It's been a hit for the beer industry - the same beer industry that has seen the sales curve of premium beers go flat.For Lake and Sumter county residents who like the taste of beer, that means having an acceptable alternative, one they didn't have three or four years ago.Now, they have several alternatives.

If some days are better than others, as the Michelob jingle goes, then this is one of the bad ones. It's 9 p.m. on a weekend, and Alan Jones, Randall Higgins and Laura Sobbott are unwinding at a bar in downtown Orlando.Not one is drinking beer.Jones holds a bottle of O'Doul's, one of those beer substitutes with almost no alcohol. Sobbott, who doesn't like beer, is drinking a daiquiri. Higgins is nursing a glass of water, having already finished an O'Doul's.''I don't actually think it's as good, but it's not bad. Tastes like maybe mediocre beer,'' says Jones, who prefers beer but says he did all the drinking he could stand the night before.